can anyone show me a picture of what it will look like?

how many will it serve?

it's for a friend's wedding. thanks!

No pic but it is going to look "squat".
The tiers are extra bit so it will make the overall cake look 'stubby' - ack! can't think how to say it
Just say it won't look pleasing.

The 18 will serve 120 some - not sure
The 14 serves 76 and the 10 serves 39 to the total would be around 225.
On think you can do to get an idea is to stack up your pans OR use styrofoam dummies.

unfortunately i do not have pans or dummies in those sizes

what will be the best size for a three tiered cake that will serve around 250 to 300 and not look... well...stubby?

it's time to educate your bride. They have no idea how big a 3-tier cake has to be to serve 300. As it's been stated, it will look "squat". A 10" cake is way too big for a top tier. Why is she stuck on 3-tiers? My guess is she just picked it out of the air because she's a cake civilian and "wedding cakes are POSTA be 3-tier!"

Convince her to stretch it to 5 tiers and have a beautiful grand centerpiece cake at her reception!

Or she should get a regular 3-tier cake with sheet cakes to supplement it .... and I HATE that! Why would you choose to have a little 3-tier cake when you could have a 5-tier grand masterpiece?

But then ... i'm a little cake-biased!

actually she wanted a 5-tier. she wanted to do this really cute cake i'll get a pic (i actually helped her choose it) but the cake decorator said it will be tough to make the 5 tiers. i'll look for the pic so you can see it.

ETA

here's the cake she initially wanted.

A professional bakery/baker told her that? i am so looking forward to seeing the pic! So far, this story sounds like a potential candidate for the "dumb things brides have been told about cakes"!

i know! LOL am starting to think that too.

she is a dear friend and she's out of town so she wants me to talk "cake" with the cake lady since, well, i kinda know a little bit and i was the devil on her shoulder that told her she should get a really cute cake instead of you know... something not cute LOL so i kinda feel guilty.

I think the number of servings is NOT as important but she does want the cake to look good. so how will it work?

the cake lady said it will be rather difficult to make the top tiers because they're too narrow and she's afraid the cake will tip over. but isn't that what dowels and support systems are for?

can someone give me suggestions so that when i go to meet this woman i know exactly what i'm talking about? thanks

ETA

what about this cake, what are the sizes, you think?

(big sigh!) The top tier might LOOK tall and skinny simply because it's a smaller tier. This is a common optical illusion on tall cakes.

She's afraid the cake will tip over???? If the pic shows it as a 5-tier cake, then yes it IS possible to make it as a 5-tier cake. There is a difference between "it can't be done" and "I dont' know how to do it."

I hope it's not a CC'er, but I think your friend needs to find another cake decorator.

And yes....this story SHOULD go on that other thread!

I think the brown and blue cake is 6-9-12. Both cakes are really cute. I don't understand why 5 teirs couldn't be done. Its done every day. Sounds like a baker with little confidence in her ability to stack a cake.

ARGH. i don't know how to tell her that (the cake lady, not my friend) i feel like it's my fault 'cause i showed my friend that picture LOL

can anyone take a guess on the sizes of that 5-tier cake?

alanahodgson, her first choice was that brown and blue cake too. but when she saw the 5-tier she was like.. I WANT THAT! LOL

Since the cakes look pretty close to the edge of each other, I'd guess 6/8/10/12/14, which per the wilton chart will serve about 208.

Could you speak to the baker about the SPS system?

well, when you THINK about it... it's not suppose to be as expensive as the 3-tier sizes she gave as an option, right? i meant that would serve like 225 and this one is 208.

the price she quoted my friend was ridiculously high for the 5-tier, like almost 5 times as much. makes me wonder if she quoted that high price because she wanted to scare my friend off so she'd go for the 3-tier.

*sigh*

I'm not getting a good feeling about that baker. I really think your friend needs to look at some other options.

me too. but she's the only one who can probably pull this off. her cakes taste VERY good. there's another caker here but her cakes are too dry and taste bleh.

I do know the gal who made that blue, black cake and it is indeed 12, 9, 6.
The only problem w/5 tier cakes is transporting it. And what you do there is take it in 2 parts, then it's simple to put those together.
Definately SPS is the way to support it. Can be done w/dowels but SPS is safer, better overall.

thanks kakeladi. i will keep those sizes in mind IF we indeed go for a 3-tier.

Ignorance is bliss they say, but I would like to know what SPS stands for & don't laugh at me.

he he he I am laughing because I was going to ask the same!

SPS= Single plate separator

http://www.bakingshop.com/weddingcakes/cakestand.htm

OK, this cake lady isn't sounding too great. You can't do a 5 tier cake in 5 tiers? No time for fondant accents? Did the bride OK the "fondant-like boiled icing"? Does the baker realize she's being paid for this?

Thanks for the info.

Ugghh.......sounds like your friend is in trouble with this baker......I am not sure about the rest of you, but the cake lady should have started the consultation with-------How many servings do you need? Go from there.....a 5 tier is just a 3 tiered cake with two more tiers, or 5 cakes stacked together.......however you want to put it. I did a 5 tier cake last summer, plus some rounds to fee 400 people (I use Earlene's chart)- look in my photos- just to get the idea of the sizes relevent to each tier- it is the gold and ivory cake, tiers are 16-14-12-10-8- if you go by the Wilton chart, the 5 tiers would have fed 296, it's a matter of preference on the servings. As much as I would love SPS, I am only a "hobby" cake decorator, not my career, so I use the Wilton hidden pillars and love them- you cut them to the size of the height of your cake. Any way, if this cake baker truly will not do anything bigger than 3 tiers (as someone mentioned possibly a confidence issue), then I would recommend doing (if you use Wilton's chart) 14-10-6, then add some sattelite cakes to get your servings. And I would not worry about seeming like a know-it-all, as your friend's baker may just need another person to guide her in the right direction- the point of the whole thing is your friend get the cake she desires and doesn't have to fret over it at a very stressful time in her life.